Lana (Schumacher) Ottinger

Lana Jean Ottinger, a resident of Monroe, NJ, passed quietly in her sleep on February 24, 2017.

The beloved mother of Dawn (46) and Debi (43), she was the devoted wife of Steven Ottinger, formerly of Walnut Creek, CA and the grandmother of five adoring grandchildren.

Lana was a retired Registered Nurse (RN), International Breastfeeding Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and Certified Infant Massage Instructor (CIMI). A 1969 graduate of Princeton Nursing School, she was an LPN at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, NJ until 1993. Thereafter, she achieved her RN designation working at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ and was a childbirth educator and Labor and Delivery nurse through 2002.

She moved to California where she met and married her husband Steve.  Lana continued her career in Walnut Creek, CA where she was the Charge Nurse of Pediatrics through her retirement in July 2012.

Lana was a beacon of goodness who spent her life in the relentless pursuit of helping everyone.  Lana loved to travel, paint ceramics and needlepoint.  In her retirement Lana and Steve moved back to NJ to be near the grandchildren. She volunteered at Princeton Medical Center with Religious Ministries and Hospice. She was “a thankful nurse and would never choose another career” (her words).

She is survived by her loving husband Steve Ottinger; her daughters Dawn and Debi and their children: Nicholas Peschler, Caid Faurot, Emily, Keri & Erik Kapuscinski; her brother Mark and his children, Jim & Jackie and Julie. She was loved by her many friends in the Rossmore community and will be missed by her larger circle of family and friends around the world.

In respect of her wishes, Lana has donated her body to Robert Wood Johnson.   In lieu of flowers, Lana requested a donation to Princeton Hospice.

There will be a memorial service for Lana on Saturday, March 11, 2017 at 10:30 at the Meeting House at 1 Rossmoor Drive, Monroe Township (visitors to Rossmoor should enter through the North Gate, located off Forsgate Drive). Let security know you are attending the Ottinger memorial service.

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